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| Observations from the Fast Lane |
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Written by Randy Fish |
 This editorial is coming to you live, via tape delay, complete with burnout smoke and copious amounts of nitromethane fumes. Man, it's great to be an American! My physical location for creating this piece is a bit out of the ordinary, but terminally cool nonetheless. I happen to be relishing life in the outdoor seating area of a hospitality suite within the confines of The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, watching the first Saturday qualifying session for the NHRA SummitRacing.com Nationals. It's kind of like the ultimate front porch! Although I pride myself in getting the magazine finished and to my art director on time, this go-around has been a bit of a challenge, due to a variety of extenuating circumstances. I don't think there's a better place on earth to provide the inspiration to write, however, as this is about as close to perfect as a gearhead could hope for.
Yesterday I made my rounds as usual, visiting several Pro racers, Top Alcohol guys and Comp hitters. Walking through the staging lanes, I met Johnny Ahten, who's come a long way with his A/Fuel Dragster. Johnny commented on how much he enjoyed reading DRAG RACER Magazine, and I immediately thanked my lucky stars for being able to reach such a broad spectrum of people, from fans to racers alike. That was my goal from the get-go. At any rate, thanks again, Johnny. It's really nice to have another new best friend in the sport.
Next, I went to see Bruno Massel II and III, as they had just come from an unfortunate engine-damaging final qualifying session with the Wyotech Chevy Cobalt DD/Altered Turbo. They've had the car out West for a couple of months, running both national and divisional events with a fair amount of success. Bruno III and his wife recently welcomed Bruno IV into the world, so congratulations are in order. They were busy, so I let them get to work swapping in a fresh Ecotech motor.
Wandering through Dennis Taylor's pit, it was business as usual following their first shot, which landed the Plumbing Concepts Top Alcohol Funny Car in the third spot, for the time being. Ron Meer's car, tuned by Bob DeVour, overpowered the track in the first session, as Sean Bellemeur experienced severe tire shake. To his credit, though, Sean has already been to four final rounds early on, as this is his first year driving the Meer Homes Alcohol Funny Car. Just a few minutes later, a visiting dignitary showed up, multi-time Pro Mod champion, owner/tuner Jim Oddy stopped by the Meer Homes pit. It was great to see Jim again, and we're happy to report he's enjoying retirement in North Carolina. We understand he's still consulting from time to time and keeping busy with several projects in and around the new homestead. Now, back to enjoying my favorite new front porch. Updates as they become available - film at 11:00.
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